FIFA lifts suspension on Football Federation of Sri Lanka

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has decided to lift the suspension imposed on the Sri Lanka Football Federation (FFSL) with immediate effect, FIFA announced.

Accordingly, FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will continue to monitor the situation until the FFSL elections are held on 29 September 2023, according to FIFA.

In a circular to member associations, FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura stated that as a result of the decision taken by the Bureau of the FIFA Council on 21 January 2023, the FFSL had been suspended until further notice in accordance with article 16 of the FIFA Statutes, due to government interference.

Thereby, the FFSL lost all of its membership rights, as defined in Article 13 of the FIFA Statutes, until further notice. 

The Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) on December 25, 2022, had issued a red notice to Sri Lankan Football authorities, raising concerns over the Electoral roadmap of the Football Federation of Sri Lanka.

Against this backdrop, the FIFA and the AFC approved and included “Sri Lanka” in the official World Cup draw on a strict conditional basis. Thereby, the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) was required to conduct its election at least 10 days prior to this World Cup match.

Later on, the FFSL decided to hold the elections of the federation in September, in order to allow Sri Lanka to participate in the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) World Cup qualifiers.

Accordingly, the election is expected to be held before 16 September, in line with the recommendations proposed by FIFA.

Meanwhile, on 25 July, Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Roshan Ranasinghe appointed a three-member committee to call for, and hold the FFSL elections.